Page 60 of Missing

“Beth?” Doug was by my side in a flash. “What’s wrong?”

“They, they took him to, to a second location.” Was all I could say between sobs. Terror had a vice grip on my mind and wasn’t letting go.

“I wish I could tell you everything will be okay; that Chase will be fine.” He kneeled in front of me and wiped the tears off my face with his thumbs. “But I won’t lie to you. Every hour he’s gone-”

“The harder it’ll be to find him.” My heart shattered as I finished his sentence.

His nod was expected but unwelcome. “I’m so sorry Beth, I wish I could make this all go away.”

“Thank you for not lying.” The truth sucked, but I had to deal with reality, not rely on false hopes.

“You’re welcome.” He stood. “Want to sit with me and help me look? It might help to be doing something.”

“Please.”

I spent the next hour scanning footage from the three cameras located around the park. Doug isolated the fifteen minutes before and after Chase went missing. Nothing.

Doug expanded the search to an hour before and after Chase was reported as lost.

While he pulled them up, I went to the bathroom. The face staring back at me in the mirror had aged considerably since this morning. I rinsed my face in cold water before going back to the lobby.

Please God, watch out for Chase and bring him home to me.

I checked in on everyone, and grabbed two bottles of water.

“You should try to get some rest. I know it’s hard, but you won’t do yourself any favors if you’re dead on your feet.” Mary added, “You can stay with us, if you don't want to be alone.”

I glanced at John’s open office door. He was talking to Jamie and Jack. I looked in Jack’s office and saw AJ working at Jack’s desk. Meg had paused her work to check on me but would start again once I left.

“Everyone is still working, the least I can do is stay awake and help as much as I can.”

“Okay, but I’ll ask again when we leave.” Mary hugged me. “Because I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Chapter 30

Doug

When Beth broke down, I offered to let her help me search the park videos. She might not be much help, but it’d keep her mind busy. Right now she needed to do something, anything, other than sit and ruminate. When she asked why I didn’t need permission, I had to explain I was hacking the footage. Though none of us would say it in front of Campbell. Plausible deniability and all that. It wasn’t legal, but time was of the essence, and I wasn’t willing to wait until tomorrow morning for permission.

Neither was John.

I asked Beth to tell me if she saw anyone who seemed familiar, especially if she recognized them from the park or near the daycare. She didn’t know traffickers often scouted an area before taking a child, so I kept that to myself.

We came up empty-handed during our initial search, so I widened the parameters, going back an hour before and an hour after Chase was reported as missing.

We watched the video from the first camera but hadn’t seen anything. I wasn’t ready to give up, I still had an hour of footage from the second camera and two hours from the third to review.

Beth dozed off, her head resting on her forearms on my desk, a few minutes before my phone buzzed with a text from John.

It was after two. I gently shook Beth awake so we could join everyone in the lobby.

John was sending us home. We didn’t want to stop working, but John put his foot down.

“None of us will do Chase any good if we miss a vital clue because we’re exhausted.”

“Beth, you can stay with us tonight if you’d like.” Mary offered.

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